Dish Network "Auto Hop" Leaps Right Past Those Pesky Ads

Commercials and DVRs don't really mix. Honestly, snagging a DVR is one of the best things you can do if you've no interest in sitting through ads. And somebody in the business knows it. Dish Network subscribers will now get the feature viewers have been waiting for since the beginning of television -- the choice to automatically skip over commercials. The new "Auto Hop" capability for the Hopper whole-home HD DVR system is being activated today, and it allows customers to skip all commercials for most recorded primetime HD programs shown on ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC when viewed the day after airing.

It's kind of crazy that Dish is pimping this so hard, and we're pretty sure some flack will be felt at some point along the way from content producers. "Auto Hop" is an extension of the Hopper's PrimeTime Anytime capability, the feature that allows viewers, with one click, to record all of the primetime TV programming on ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC in HD -- the networks that deliver some of the most popular shows during primetime. A viewer can watch a show with the Auto Hop option commercial-free starting at 1 a.m. ET, after a show has been recorded to the Hopper's PrimeTime Anytime library. Prior to that, The Hopper's 30-second "hop forward" feature continues to work for same-day viewing. Of course, the feature is useless for live broadcasts, but you already knew that.